CashNews.co
18 August, 2024
The IRIS-T SLM anti-aircraft missile system. Photo credits: Ēriks Kukutis
Germany is unable to finance an additional IRIS-T SLM battery for Ukraine due to lack of funds.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported on this.
Germany is currently limiting military aid to Ukraine due to the full expenditure of funds allocated by the federal government for 2024.
Also, some applications from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will not be considered due to certain disputes between the parties.
FAZ published part of a letter sent on August 5 by Finance Minister Christian Lindner to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius.
It states that no further increase in military aid to Ukraine is likely to be expected, but on the contrary, by 2027, these indicators will become significantly smaller.
Additionally, the letter states that further assistance to Ukraine from Germany will be allocated from frozen Russian assets, not the state budget.
Since the allocated budget for military assistance to Ukraine for 2024 has been completely exhausted, the government is currently unable to place an order for additional IRIS-T air defense systems, therefore, Norway has funded the additional systems.
“Most of the previously approved equipment will be delivered, but additional requests from the Ministry of Defense, as recommended by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, should be rejected,” the government said.
This downward trend in military aid from Germany could negatively affect Ukraine’s ability to deter Russian aggression.
The government noted that the defense industry is currently loaded with orders placed in 2023-2024, and their transfer will take place over the next 2-3 years.
Militarnyi previously reported that the German government was seeking additional funds to increase military support for Ukraine in 2024.